Bandanna
by Kandomaru
Summary: Genma's bandanna hides a secret. (one-shot)


Genma Saotome always wore a white bandanna on his head. Nobody ever really thought about it. It was a perennial part of his outfit; same as the white karate gi he always wore and his round-rimmed glasses. If you were to ask someone like Akane about this bandanna, she would have told you that it was a fashion choice. If you were to ask Ranma instead, he would have said that his pops used it to hide his bald head. Both were not entirely wrong, but neither reached the truth of it.

The large, older man that sometimes transformed into a panda when splashed with cold water grabbed his bandanna. He hesitated for a second as he looked around him to see how many witnesses were present. Soun, Ranma, Akane, and Ryoga were all there. Not to mention his opponent.

Genma would have preferred if none of them were there. Hell, he would have been ecstatic not to have to fight at all. Unfortunately, he had no choice. He had to win. So he had to use that forbidden move.

"Watch closely," Genma said to his opponent, a grim look etched deeply on his face. "This next move will end it all."

Akane asked from the sidelines, "What do you think this ultimate move is?"

"Probably something stupid," quipped Ranma as he shrugged. The others all agreed with him.

Genma was hurt by the lack of confidence his family and friends had in him but was not surprised. He did have a bit of a reputation as a lazy good for nothing. A reputation he had maintained in order to avoid getting into unnecessary fights. A life lesson the boy would learn one day when he got tired of fighting the same battles daily non-stop for years on end.

Mr. Saotome removed his bandanna and revealed underneath a shiny head as smooth as a plane of glass. Ranma could be heard from the sidelines as he snickered at the sight. Next, Genma wrapped the cloth over his face as a mask and took an unfamiliar stance Ranma had never seen before. Everyone was left dumbstruck as Genma's figure shimmered like a mirage in a desert before he disappeared from sight.

"Where'd he go?" Shouted Ryoga in surprise.

"I don't know," whispered Ranma, who was visibly shaken.

Akane started to look at the corners of the ceiling of the fighting hall. "Maybe he moved somewhere faster than our eyes could see?"

"My pops ain't faster than me!" Yelled Ranma in an angry outburst.

Genma's opponent was just as shocked and confused as everyone else. He looked all around himself. He reached out with his aura and tried to find the elusive Genma. There was nothing. The older man had just... vanished. Next thing he knew he felt something in his side. Like the bite of an insect.

Everyone present was shocked yet again when Genma reappeared behind his opponent and said opponent fell to the ground clutching his side. A small pool of blood began to form underneath the defeated foe. Genma removed his mask and placed it back where it belonged on his shiny head.

Genma announced, "Anything Goes School of Martial Arts Secret Technique: Deddoobunaito no sairentokirā."

With the battle over, Ranma almost tackled his dad as he ran up to him while the others took care of the vanquished foe to make sure he was okay. "What the hell was that, old man? When were you planning on teaching me that trick?"

"This is not something children should be learning, boy," responded Genma with a serious tone.

"Oh, but throwing kids into pits of hungry cats is okay?"

Genma turned away to hide himself from Ranma's accusatory gaze. "It's different."

"How?"

"It just is."

Before long the others joined them.

"That was amazing, Mr. Saotome," said Akane. "Have you ever seen that technique before, dad?"

"Never," responded Soun. "How did you do that, Saotome?"

Ranma's ears perked up at the question. He moved away. Pretended like he was disinterested. You could tell clear as day that he was listening in closely.

"It's a ki technique, same as the boy's Mōko Takabisha. I'm sorry, friend. I can't speak anymore of it."

To avoid any more troublesome questions that he would rather avoid, Genma splashed himself with cold water and triggered his curse. In his panda form, he found his favorite tire and began to seemingly innocently play with it. The message was loud and clear. Don't talk to me.

It was such a clear message that the big panda grabbed one of the wooden signs he used to talk while in his cursed form and wrote 'Don't talk to me' on it and placed it right in front of his play corner.

They all took the message, even the younger martial artists present that wanted nothing more than to learn a new technique that would give them an edge over their rivals. Everyone went about their day. All of them full of questions they knew they would never get answers to.

Still, even after all of that, nobody paid attention to Genma's bandanna. An inconspicuous piece of cloth. Unassuming in every conceivable form. Also the secret behind his deadliest technique.


End file.
